Jarrad Saffren recaps Thursday’s SOL boys’ soccer results.
By Jarrad Saffren
Nine Suburban One League boys soccer teams played conference games Thursday.
One—Council Rock South—played a non-conference game against Archbishop Wood.
Thursday was the first truly crazy night of the 2016 season. There were upsets, exciting finishes, cries of foul play and even a history-making win.
I could be lying about all of this just to get you to keep reading. But I’m not. So keep reading.
It will seriously be worth your time.
Thursday’s results and recaps are below.
SOL American
Quakertown 1, Cheltenham 0
Quakertown played the last three seasons in the SOL Continental. It is hard to win soccer games in the SOL Continental.
“The Continental Conference is relentless,” Quakertown coach Kevin Woulfe said. “We were playing some pretty big schools.”
The 2013 Panthers lost their last 11 conference games. The 2014 and ’15 Panthers went 0-14. Quakertown moved to the SOL American in the offseason.
“We were lobbying for it for a while,” Woulfe said. “So we could play games against schools of similar sizes.”
The 2016 Panthers still lost their first three conference games. Here’s math: Quakertown came into Thursday on a 42-game losing streak in conference play.
“I’m trying to block out that number. It definitely wasn’t pretty,” Woulfe said. “It’s been about three years since we won our last conference game.”
Quakertown scored in the 70th minute. Matt Munsell corner kicked the ball to Jake Rudloff. Rudloff booted it past Cheltenham’s stud keeper, Justin Grady.
Quakertown keeper Steven Hippauf made one save.
“We possessed the ball well,” Woulfe said. “We made it tough for them to get the ball through.”
Quakertown’s center backs—Ryan Leatherman and Jake Graham—“controlled things over the top and played the ball back out,” Woulfe said.
Cheltenham’s best chance came in the second half. A Cheltenham player kicked the ball across the box and off the post. “That was their only chance,” Woulfe said.
“This win was huge for us. We are making a point that we can be just as competitive as these other schools. We are looking to make a run,” Woulfe said. “We still haven’t gotten the respect of this conference. We lost to Wissahickon 3-2 in a game we controlled. We lost to Upper Dublin, that was a bad one, in that 2,000 degree weather.”
Other teams may not have high expectations for Quakertown. But Woulfe does.
“This shouldn’t be our last win of the year. It’s refreshing to see quality soccer games, to see games that can go either way,” Woulfe said. “We have a heavy senior class with varsity experience. There’s no reason to think we shouldn’t be playing for an SOL American championship or a berth in districts.”
Quakertown (2-3, 1-3 SOL) plays Upper Moreland Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Cheltenham (1-3, 1-2 SOL) buses to Springfield Monday for a 3:30 start.
Quakertown 0-1 1
Cheltenham 0-0 0
Hatboro-Horsham 2, Wissahickon 1
Sophomore Danny Bateman scored both goals for Hatboro-Horsham. Bateman has five goals and three assists in six games.
“He’s been our main offensive weapon,” Hatboro-Horsham coach Kyle McGrath said. “He’s only a sophomore but he’s played at a high level his whole life, especially with the (Philadelphia) Union Academy. He’s rising to the occasion and the guys feed off his energy.”
Bateman did not play for Hatboro-Horsham in 2015. He played in the Union Academy. The experience made varsity soccer much less daunting.
“He was playing with best players in the area with the Academy. They challenged him every day and he saw what he needed to do to play at a high level all the time,” McGrath said. “He always pushes the guys in practice. I was worried he would think this would be easy. But he worked hard all offseason and has continued that into the season.”
Bateman moved back to defense after putting the Hatters up 2-1.
“He does everything well. And he never wears down and is always involved in the play,” McGrath said. “Anytime he gets around the 18-yard box he tries to score. He creates a lot of opportunities for himself and other guys.”
Hatboro-Horsham keeper Stephen Doney made six saves. “Some of the shots were from distance that he just had to clean up. He didn’t have to make any game-saving saves,” McGrath said. “But he did a good job cleaning up and playing out restarts that they played into the box.”
McGrath is happy with Doney, a talented keeper. But he still wants Doney to be more vocal and assertive.
“He’s playing well. He’s had moments where he could be better. He just needs to find that consistency of playing well in every game,” McGrath said. “He needs to play with more confidence. Stephen’s kind of a timid kid but a goalkeeper can’t be.”
McGrath wants Doney to “come out and grab more balls in the air.”
“He’s on the verge of becoming a very good goalkeeper. He just needs to get over some of the fears that he has,” McGrath said. “If he does that, the sky’s the limit.”
The senior started as a junior and made two spot starts as a sophomore.
“He has improved vocally from last year. He was quiet last year for sure,” McGrath said. “He won the job in preseason but didn’t stand out that much. He’s more vocal and assertive this year but there’s still room to improve. He agrees.”
McGrath gives Doney two or three areas to improve at the end of practice each day. Doney is always receptive.
He’s one of our hardest workers,” McGrath said. “It’s good to see him pushing to be better.”
Hatboro-Horsham (4-1, 3-0 SOL), like Quakertown, has new life in the SOL American. The Hatters and Upper Dublin are the only American teams without a conference loss.
Upper Dublin coach Derek Preist kept mentioning the Hatters as a conference title contender Thursday night.
“Historically it’s been us, Wissahickon and Plymouth Whitemarsh,” Preist said. “But Hatboro-Horsham will have a say this year as well. Hatboro-Horsham will be there.”
“It’s nice to be mentioned with those teams. They’ve had a stranglehold on this league for 10 years,” McGrath said. “It’s still early and we have to play a lot of good teams. But to be mentioned with them is a good starting point. Guys need to realize it’s not going to just happen. We have to keep working and getting better.”
Hatboro-Horsham hosts Boyertown Saturday at 6 p.m. Wissahickon (1-3-1, 1-3 SOL) plays Roman Catholic Saturday at 2.
Upper Dublin 2, Plymouth Whitemarsh 1
Ryan Huggins scored in the 75th minute to put Upper Dublin up 1-0. Plymouth Whitemarsh answered in the 78th minute.
UD’s Anthony Wisdo netted the winning goal in the 84th minute. Quinn Middleton assisted.
Wisdo has six goals in five games. He has scored in every game.
“I was hopeful he would have a good year,” Preist said. “I didn’t expect him to score in every game obviously.”
Wisdo is “just finishing better,” Preist said. “He was very good last year. But as a senior he’s getting more minutes. He plays pretty much every minute of every game. So that helps. He’s only missed a couple chances. You’re only getting one or two per game and he’s scoring at least one of them. He’s not panicking. He’s staying calm. His technique is very good. Most of his goals are not spectacular. He’s scoring from the six to the penalty spot.”
Three of Wisdo’s goals were from straight away.
Jason Stone stopped three shots for UD and improved to 9-0 in his varsity career.
“He’s just a good solid goalkeeper. His technique and decision making are very good,” Preist said. “He knows when to come, when to stay on the line.”
Upper Dublin’s back four—center backs Jake Chinn and Graham Tomko and outside backs Quinn Middleton and Garrett Breslin—have been just as important. Tomko, Breslin and Middleton did not start last season.
Middleton and Breslin were not even on varsity.
“That was one of the things I was worried about coming into the season, graduating three of four defenders,” Preist said. “But the JV guys have made those outside spots their own. We aren’t giving away many chances.’
Upper Dublin (5-0, 4-0 SOL) sits in first place almost a third of the way into the season. This win was especially big.
“It’s always big beating Wissahickon or PW. Historically it’s been the three of us,” Preist said. “Those are always tie games, one-goal games.”
Upper Dublin plays Father Judge Friday at 3:30. PW (2-3, 2-2 SOL) takes on Hatboro-Horsham Tuesday at 3:45.
Upper Dublin 0-2 2
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-1 1
Springfield 2, Upper Moreland 1
Springfield won its second straight conference game. The Spartans won more conference games this week than they did in the entire 2015 season.
Louis Luongo scored in regulation for Springfield. Christian O’Donnell did the same for Upper Moreland. Ben Johnson assisted O’Donnell.
Mike Bonacci won it for Springfield in the second overtime.
Springfield (2-3, 2-1 SOL) plays Cheltenham Monday at 3:30. Upper Moreland (1-3-1, 0-3-1 SOL) battles Springfield-Delco Friday at 4.
SOL Continental
Souderton 4, Pennridge 1
Pennridge beat Souderton twice in 2015, once in overtime. Souderton wanted revenge against its crosstown rival.
“We felt we played well enough to win last year at their place but lost in OT,” Souderton coach Matt Benner said. “So our guys were confident this year. We knew we could get a win against a really good Pennridge side.”
Souderton took a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. Cameron Hart scored off a pass from Dylan Molyneaux. Pennridge tied the game on the ensuing tap in. Sophomore sensation Matt Stevenson saw that Souderton’s goalie had moved off the goal line.
Stevenson booted the ball over the keeper’s head into the net. Pennridge coach Valimont said it traveled 50 yards. Benner estimated 55-60. Either way, it was the play of the season so far.
“It was an incredible play by Matt,” Valimont said.
“That’s one of the best goals I’ve seen in high school soccer,” Benner said. “It’s incredible he has the foot strength to do that.”
But Souderton answered with two goals in the next 20 minutes. David Hafler scored off a pass from Molyneaux to make it 2-1. Molyneaux scored in the 31st minute.
Late in the half, Stevenson took a cleat to the shin, left the game with an ankle injury and did not return. Valimont pleaded with the officials for a call. He never got it.
“Matt got tackled studs up. He was taken out by them,” Valimont said. “It’s frustrating when our best player has a target on his back and they can do that and Matt doesn’t get help from the refs.”
“I can tell you flat out that that was not a play where our player had any intent of injuring Matt. Our player went in for the ball but had no intent of injuring him,” Benner said. “He lost his footing a bit. He got a little more of Matt than he did the ball. But we don’t coach our kids to go out there and injure anybody. It’s an unfortunate situation because Matt is such a talented player.”
“It’s tough for me to say it was intentional. But the kid that fouled him knew what he was doing,” Valimont said. “That made it much easier for them. We had possession with Matty. We had to adjust a couple things after he went down. We didn’t control the ball as well.”
“They weren’t quite the same after that,” Benner said.
Valimont did not think about putting Stevenson back in.
“I’m not going to put him back out there after that,” the Rams’ coach said. “He’s young. He has his whole career ahead of him.”
Benner moved Molyneaux to defense for the rest of the game. Molyneaux had two assists and a goal Thursday. But he played his best in the back.
“Molyneaux really showed a lot of senior leadership and commanded the team from the back. He also showed how much of a versatile player he is,” Benner said. “Him and Cam Hart did not let Pennridge get too many chances in the second half. Luis Orellana and Nick Marculo were physical presences back there too.”
Marculo worked his way back from a sickness to play in Thursday’s game.
“We thought he wasn’t going to play,” Benner said. “So it was great to have him.”
“They did what Souderton does: Packed it in from the 18 and played boom ball,” Valimont said. “You can do that with a two-goal lead. We knocked on the door. We just couldn’t finish. To their credit, they got a lead and held it.”
Orellana assisted Ethan Bell’s goal in the 76th minute.
“The fact that we scored in the 76th minute shows we didn’t just sit back,” Benner said. “We kept tight lines and made it difficult to get behind us. But we pushed forward when we could.”
Mitchell Race made five saves for Souderton.
Souderton (1-2, 1-2 SOL) plays Saucon Valley Saturday morning. Pennridge (2-2-1, 0-2-1 SOL) battles Central Bucks West Tuesday at 3:30.
Souderton 3-1 4
Pennridge 1-0 1
William Tennent 4, Central Bucks South 3
William Tennent scored four goals in the first 16 minutes. Central Bucks South battled back the rest of the way.
“We couldn’t quite get there,” CB South coach Don Brady said. “I don’t know why we started so slow. But we needed to start playing well earlier.”
“We opened them up early. We had nice outlet balls,” William Tennent coach Ryan Todt said. “We won on some 50-50 balls. We really jumped off to a good start and controlled play.”
Mike Mesella scored two goals for the Panthers. Michael Albers scored on a penalty shot. Matt Berndlmaier and Matt D’Ambra assisted on goals.
Mesella used to be a midfielder. Todt moved him to forward because of his ball skills and size.
“He’s finding his niche as a forward. We are teaching him how to play up top,” Todt said. “He has so much size at 6-foot-1, and ability.”
The “game got chippy” after Tennent’s early flurry.
“There were a lot of dead balls, a lot of fouls,” Todt said. “CB South got very physical. They scored a couple goals early in the second half and put us on our heels, but we held on.”
William Tennent keeper Brendan Hanratty made seven saves. Kevin Bernsten scored one goal for CB South. Colin Fagan netted two. Colin Green assisted on one of Fagan’s goals.
The Panthers scored more goals than they did in any 2015 game. And they did it without starting forward Billy Hanratty and starting midfielder Lorenzo Amaro.
“We were in a situation where we needed to win to keep pace for the playoff hunt,” Todt said. “Our young guys are stepping up which hopefully makes us stronger for the end of the season when we get our guys back.”
Hanratty had a concussion but could be back by Tuesday. Amaro may practice Saturday.
The win over CB South was Tennent’s first in the SOL Continental.
“Any win you get in this conference is big. We’ve seen three teams and they are all very good,” Todt said. “We have to be ready for a physical match, ready to convert opportunities. I’m proud of our guys for the way we came out and attacked CB South.”
William Tennent (2-2, 1-2 SOL) welcomes Central Bucks East Tuesday at 7 p.m. CB South (3-1-1, 2-0-1 SOL) plays Pennsbury Friday at 3:30.
William Tennent 4-0 4
Central Bucks South 1-2 3
SOL National
Council Rock South 2, Archbishop Wood 1 (OT)
Golden Hawks coach Alan Nicholl had no idea that his starting keeper, Nolan Gaudet, is a decathlete.
“Apparently he is,” Nicholl said. “He had been missing out on some opportunities because of his commitment to soccer and he felt he needed to re-shift his focus. He just wasn’t available today.”
Backup Nate Zadjowicz broke his finger during a preseason scrimmage.
“Hopefully we’ll get him back soon,” Nicholl said.
Gaudet will return to the team now that his decathlon is over. Zadjowicz will come back once his injury heals. But both have a new competitor for the starting job: Freshman Kevin McNamee.
“It’s not like we weren’t prepared. McNamee was working out, training,” Nicholl said. “He lacks experience. But what better way to gain it than by getting thrown in like that?”
McNamee stoned five shots and kept the Hawks alive. Tyler Teufel tied the game at one off a pass from Kevin Bowers. Conor Sweeney scored the game winner three minutes into overtime.
Sweeney settled the ball at the 25, created space and stuffed the ball into the corner of the net.
“He was a very busy player. He did a tremendous amount of work from the center of the field,” Nicholl said. “I told the guys heading into OT, it’s not about technical stuff. It’s about how tough you are. Conor picked the team up. He changed the game with one touch. But he had been doing that all day. It was a reward for how much work he did.”
The Hawks were overjoyed to give their rookie backstop his first varsity win.
“The seniors love Kevin. They’ve taken him under their wing. He’s a likable kid. He’s not shy and has a playfulness about him,” Nicholl said. “Older guys feed off of his energy. It’s nice. It’s what high school sports are supposed to be about. Seniors playing that role model role and helping guys in their developmental process.”
Nicholl kept McNamee on varsity even with two seniors in front of him. “We had one eye on his development at the varsity level. It’s a decision we made very early to get him varsity reps and foster his development,” Nicholl said. “I wouldn’t have predicted that he’d get a start. But he played very well. That’s a great stepping stone. He’s a big boy, 6-foot-2. That will only benefit us for the next three to four years, him getting games under his belt.”
Nicholl said McNamee “will probably get more starts.”
Center back Anthony Ritts helped McNamee more than anyone.
“Anthony was wearing Wood’s best offensive player’s socks by the end of the game. He did a great job shutting him down,” Nicholl said. “I’m not big into man marking. Soccer’s not supposed to be played that way. But we knew going in that this kid was their most dangerous player. I told Ritts to pay attention and make sure this kid doesn’t get too many looks. And I don’t even think the kid got a shot off.”
CR South, just 1-2 in conference play, is now 3-0 in non-conference games.
“We play in a bear of a league. Neshaminy, Pennsbury, Council Rock North, these teams make statements every year in the district playoffs. It’s great competition and really tough games to win,” Nicholl said. “We don’t quite get the same intensity outside the league. If we put four, five teams in the playoffs, it’s a good bet. National teams don’t often go out in the first round. The top four, five, six seeds don’t want to see a team from the National. We dropped one to Abington, a very disappointing loss, and one to North, in OT. North was a tough game to lose. Abington was a bad game to lose. We were just the better team. We can’t afford to make mistakes in our league. We did that against Abington and it cost us the game.”
CR South (4-2, 1-2 SOL) plays at Unionville Saturday at 11 a.m.
Council Rock South 0-1-1 2
Archbishop Wood 0-1-0 1
Bensalem 5, Harry S. Truman 2
Bensalem earned its first win of 2016 behind a breakout game from Dom Gallo.
Gallo scored two goals.
“He was on top of his game today,” Bensalem coach Joe Leone said. “He hustled a lot and was able to score.”
Gallo used to play center back. But Leone moved him up to forward because Bensalem wasn’t scoring. He also moved Matt Costello from center back to forward. Costello also scored Thursday.
“We haven’t been scoring any goals and we’ve been giving up three goals a game,” Leone said. “We needed a change. They’ll stay up there.”
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Leone said. “It’s a win but we have to keep scoring goals. We are taking it one game at a time.”
Bensalem (1-4, 1-3 SOL) takes on West Chester Rustin Saturday at 3 p.m. Harry S. Truman (1-3, 0-3 SOL) battles Coatesville Saturday at 11.
Pennsbury 2, Neshaminy 1
Pennsbury scored a big upset win Thursday.
The Falcons flew to a 2-0 lead. Zach LoBasso scored the first goal and Ovie Onuhu scored the second. Onuhu also assisted on LoBasso’s goal.
The junior did not play high school soccer the last two seasons. He played club soccer. “I’m glad he finally decided to join us,” Pennsbury coach Tom Stoddart said. “He’s a physical, tough player. And he rose to the occasion tonight.”
Neshaminy’s Dan Grindrod made it 2-1 on a penalty kick in the 63rd minute.
Pennsbury keeper Nate Slotnick stopped every other shot, making five saves in all. “Including a couple real big ones,” Stoddart said. “Nate bailed us out.”
Slotnick stopped a breakaway shot in the first half. A Neshaminy goal would have tied the game.
“Nate’s been fantastic. He’s brought everything we thought he would,” Stoddart said. “He’s a leader, he’s intense, he keep things organized. He’s been great.”
The surprising Falcons (6-0, 3-0 SOL) play CB South Friday afternoon.
“Right now we just have to figure out how to handle CB South tomorrow,” Stoddart said. “Nonleague games are just as important in the power points playoff system.”
Neshaminy (3-1, 2-1 SOL) hosts Cumberland Valley Saturday afternoon.
Pennsbury 1-1 2
Neshaminy 0-1 1
Council Rock North 2, Abington 0
The Indians are a force right now.
Everyone on the team can score. And no one can score on them.
Jon Pugh and Grant Bonas scored Thursday. Carter Steckbeck and Noah Ehlin assisted.
North keeper Anthony Caruso made five saves and earned his fourth straight shutout.
CR North (4-0-1, 4-0 SOL) travels to Neshaminy Tuesday for a 3:30 start. Abington (3-2, 1-2 SOL) welcomes Methacton Saturday at 4 p.m.
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